March 2012
Penn State Beaver Roar
Page 9
Spotlight
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I’ve seen the house a few times driving into the campus but I never really knew why it was there.”
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in the early 1880s, it held many unique contents. For example, the carpets throughout the house were hand woven. The dark wood staircase had etched into it eccentric designs, which were also done by the hands of skilled craftsmen. Parallel to the stair case, tiny handprints from the Hartenbach children escalating diagonally up the wall stood out with hues of blue and yellow. Not only was the farmhouse a vast structure, but the land it stood on was also of large acreage. “The farm occupied the entire left-hand side (of the campus), from the entrance with the two pillars continuing up the path all the way to the baseball field located next to the gym. The land also continued to the other side of Brodhead Road,” said Director of Finance and Business Luke Taiclet. Ralph and Margaret Hartenbach, along with their two children, a son and daughter, lived in the house and ran the farm. “At the edge of what is now the parking lot for the Brodhead Cultural Center, the Hartenbachs would set up a stand filled with picked vegetables, eggs, milk and other goods that were to be sold to the public,” said Dave Hunt, supervisor of Physical Plant. “Hardly anyone from the family would ever stay to run the stand, so when people decided what they wanted to purchase, they would simply put their money in a basket next to the stand and leave,” Hunt said. The farm also had a few ice ponds. When the ponds would freeze over in winter, the Hartenbachs would harvest the ice in large blocks to keep for themselves and to sell to the public. The Hartenbachs also made their own wine in their basement. Years passed and eventually the children moved out. The son, Henry, moved into the small house on top of the hill from the Hartenbach’s house near Harmony Hall that most recently housed a museum. The daughter, Vivian, moved to New Jersey and later to Frederick, Pa., where she still lives with her husband. The son died at a young age due to an unknown disease that he had acquired form doing yard work around his house. “After the Hartenbach’s son passed away, the house on the hill was purchased by the University and it became the Baker-Dungan Museum – at least 30 years ago,” said Amy Krebs, director of Campus and Community Relations and director of the Brodhead Cultural Center.
Valerie Stannard Sophomore
Above, the inside of the Hartenbach house displays the hand-crafted rugs. Left, the former BakerDungan Museum sits atop the hill near Harmony Hall. The ROAR/ Cathy Benscoter
The museum was named for two of Beaver County’s earliest settlers – George Baker and Levi Dungan.” Krebs said the museum has since been vacated and is used as storage space. The Hartenbach barn was also replaced by the Gusti Amphitheater. Ralph Hartenbach died of old age years after his son had passed. Margaret Hartenbach lived until age 93 but became very limited in her mobility in her old age. As a result, she became confined to the main floor of the house. But she always managed to attend events happening at the amphitheater. “We would wheel her down in her wheelchair and when she grew tired we would wheel her back to her house,” said Hunt. “She was a very nice woman.” With Margaret’s immobility, the house started to deteriorate from the second floor down. Margaret Hartenbach donated the premises to the campus shortly before she had passed away in December of 1998. Long before she donated the house, she had also donated all of the farm land to add on to the campus as well. Since her passing, the Hartenbach house has been utilized by the campus for the storage of records and other items. With the crumbling of the structure over the years, the items are being transferred to the house on the hill. Even though the Hartenbach house is large, students don’t seem to notice it or know much about it. “I’ve seen the house a few times driving into the campus but I never really knew why it was there,” said sophomore Valerie Stannard. The house won’t be there much longer, but some work needs to be done to it first. “Before the house comes down it will be abated due to asbestos being found throughout the outside of the house, and there is also belief that it’s even in the glazing of the windows,” Taiclet said. Taiclet also added that after the house is demolished, nothing is planned to replace it. But possibly within several years a new parking lot for the amphitheater or another type of structure will be put in place where the house once stood.